Don't Stay
by QandPia
Summary: Ice Queen; that summed her up. Guys want her, girls admire her, teachers are baffled by her, and only two people in all of Hogwarts truly know her. She is the Ice Queen of Hogwarts. Collaboration between Pia O'Leary and Q Montgomery. Read and Review pls!
1. Prologue: Ice Queen Extraordinaire

Prologue

Ice Queen. Yup, that summed her up. Or, at least, that's how she was this year. It was her sixth year as a Gryffindor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had spent her first four years as a happy-go-lucky, smart, brave Gryffindor … exactly what was expected of her. But last year … last year was different, and this year was the same kind of different. And no one, save a few, quite knew why.

Nonetheless, she was the Ice Queen of Hogwarts. She was, frankly, a bitch to most people. She had a 'holier-than-thou' attitude towards most of the girls, well the ones that threw themselves at men anyways. And she ignored most of the guys; they were crude, rude, immature and, most importantly, not worth her time. The guys pined for her and the girls admired her.

The majority of the guys at Hogwarts, spent at least some time, wishing that she was theirs. She was stunningly beautiful when she wanted to be. She had long, dark brown hair that came to the middle of her back and hung in soft waves. Her chocolate brown eyes could entrance nearly anyone, but they were usually hard and obstinate. She was on the House Quidditch team, so her figure was desirable to say the least. She was extremely toned and looked good in almost anything. In addition to all this, she used to have one of the most contagiously bubbly personalities in all of Hogwarts. She rarely got angry and when she did, she worked it out with whomever she was angry at within a day or two. This really made her the perfect girlfriend, as Roger Davies could attest to.

He'd been her last serious boyfriend before … before the big change from happy, young Gryffindor to bitter, mature Ice Queen. They'd been pretty close; their relationship had started in second year as just good friends. Then, at the beginning of fourth year, it progressed to boyfriend/girlfriend level. And lastly, it all came to a screeching halt on the last day of fourth year. Before they had left Platform 9 ¾ for home, she had come up to him and said, "Roger, I don't think we should be together anymore. This just isn't working". Roger was shocked beyond belief. Just the day before they had been talking about their future; moving to London, her coming back to Hogwarts to teach, him playing for Puddlemere United. And all the while, them still being together. He'd sent her hundreds of letters throughout the summer, begging her to just talk to him, but to no avail. He wasn't even sure she had read them, as he'd never gotten any response. When school started up again, he tried to talk to her, but that was even worse than the unreturned letters. She was unbelievably cold to him. Hell, that was an understatement. She would barely even look at him, let alone acknowledge his presence.

But it didn't matter anymore; apparently, she had moved on and it didn't take Roger long to follow suit, despite how much it hurt him to do so.

Then there were the girls; they were in absolute awe of her. They admired everything about her, down to the fact that she had never substituted a salad for a meal in her entire life. She was everything they wanted to be, but couldn't. Even the Slytherin girls admired her, despite the fact that they tried to deny it. Besides, most of the Slytherins thought she should be one of them, anyways, well … after the change at least.

Yet, her demeanor before 'the change' was almost completely forgotten by everyone. Except for two people.

But nonetheless, the girls loved the person she had become … the Ice Queen she had become. They adored her because she never let a guy break her heart; in the few relationships she had had after Roger Davies, she had been the one to end it. And the guy had always been crushed. Furthermore, she never went out of her way to impress guys. When she dressed up, it was because she wanted to. And, more importantly, she had a good many days where she wore a shapeless sweatshirt and baggy pants, simply because she wanted to be comfortable. She ate what she wanted to and didn't fret about coming back to school all sweaty after Quidditch practice. She never let guys push her around. In her relationships before fifth year, it had been an equal balance of power, which is part of what made things work so well with Roger. But after 'the change', it was no longer equal. She was the dominant one in the relationship, no questions about it. And then there was the fact that she never, ever, ever swooned. No guy in Hogwarts (or maybe even the world) could have that affect on her. Even if there were a guy that could possibly make her swoon, she would never let herself get to that point. She had seen too many women have their hearts broken; she wasn't about to let herself wander down that same path.

Yet this made her all the more desirable; after all, guys want the one thing they can't have.

So the guys wanted her, the girls admired her; the teachers were baffled by her, and only two people in all of Hogwarts truly knew her. In the current Hogwarts community, she melted her heart for two, and only two, people; Fred and George Weasley.

Yes, it was true that they had a reputation of being carefree pranksters that could never act serious … but she knew a different side of them, just as they knew a different side of her. A good amount of time, she even spent the night in their room or vice versa. No, no, it's not what you're thinking. They had no romantic tendencies towards each other whatsoever. It was more of a sibling relationship. Seeing that Ginny, the twins' sister, didn't like them all that much (not as much as she liked Bill anyways) and wasn't very close to them, she was like the sister they never had. They'd stay up all night sometimes talking, which is usually how she ended up in their room. Besides, she didn't like her dorm mates anyways and theirs were perfectly fine with having her sleep in their dormitory. But any hopes of hitting on her were gone a long time ago, when Fred and George had beat up Ken Towler (one of their dorm mates) for just that, at the beginning of fifth year. But Ken was the only one that had ever tried anything; Lee was too good of friends with the twins to even make an attempt (knowing full well what they would do to him), and there were no other Gryffindor boys in their year.

Now that's not to say that they didn't want to hit on her. But they were also a lot smarter than the rest of the boys at Hogwarts, in one way at least; they knew that they would only end up discarded like all the others. So Ken and Lee were comfortable with her as a 'friend', so to speak. They knew her better than everyone else in Hogwarts, but not nearly as well as Fred and George. Occasionally, when the day had gone particularly well, Lee and Ken would catch a glimpse of the real person behind the Ice Queen. Granted, it was only a glimpse, but it was more than anyone else (save the twins) got.

Fred and George were a different story. She was rarely without them; they had all the same classes and were all on the Quidditch team. Despite what everyone thought, the twins were actually extremely smart. They were brilliant in potions and, with her help, had started to do a lot better in all of their classes. Not that they really needed her help, as they had been a little above average before, but they always appreciated it. They lived thirty minutes walking distance away from each other, so the majority of the summer was either spent at the Burrow or at her house.

They knew everything about her, down to the smallest details. And she knew everything about each of them. There wasn't much that surprised them about each other anymore, but that's exactly the way they liked it. There was enough excitement in the world without having to wonder about what your best friends were going to do next.

Unbeknownst to the majority of Hogwarts, Fred and George were extremely protective of her, and she of them. They kept tabs on all of her boyfriends and weren't totally innocent when it came to the pranks that would _mysteriously_ befall them. Similarly, she 'observed' the few girls that the twins went out with. Very few girls in Hogwarts could put up with their prankster personalities. Deep down, while they still loved to have fun, they were much more serious. But that didn't really matter seeing as the only personality any of their girlfriends were ever going to see would be their prankster facades. Nonetheless, she always made sure they weren't doing anything … unacceptable. None of the girls they dated really lived up to her standards. Granted, her standards were high, but Fred and George meant the world to her. She wasn't about to let them get caught up with some girl that didn't deserve them. Frankly, in her opinion, no woman in the world would ever deserve one of the Weasley twins, but she thought they could come a lot closer than in the past.

The same was true for the twins' opinion of her and her boyfriends. But they were a little less critical than she was, because they knew that she wouldn't let herself fall in love, whereas the twins were capable of getting caught up in the moment and forgetting themselves. They didn't need to worry though; they had her to keep them in line, after all.

Some would have called it a lonely existence, having no significant other and not much family to speak of. But she had the twins, and that was all that mattered to her. She got perfect grades and probably would be Head Girl next year, except for the whole being a bitch to everyone thing. Yet it worked for her.

That life worked for Katherine Anastasia Bell; Hogwarts' own Ice Queen Extraordinaire.

A/N: This is Pia O'Leary here ... Q's not available at the moment, so I'll be writing this A/N. I hope you all enjoyed the Prologue. I know it's a bit slow, especially considering the lack of dialogue. But the next chapter really picks up, I promise. Q and I are currently working on Chapter 2; it's undergoing editing at the moment. It should be up by next weekend, but I make no promises considering my schedule. Please review!


	2. 1: A Few Smiles and a Lot of Tears

**Chapter 1: A Few Smiles and a Lot of Tears  
**

"Come on! Get up!" Fred deftly dodged the arm that shot out from beneath the sheets, intent upon thwacking him. But, unfortunately for George, he wasn't as fast and ended up getting smacked in the chest.

"Oof! Hey, Ana, that wasn't very nice!" He faked being offended as he heard a stifled giggled from beneath the blankets. Katherine Anastasia Bell … she had previously gone by Katie, but after the change it didn't really seem to fit her anymore. Ergo, she went by Anastasia. Only two people were allowed to shorten the elegant name to Ana, Fred and George of course.

"Yeah, and you deserved it." Anastasia pulled the covers off her head and sat up, only to have Fred and George jump on the bed, sandwiching her between them. She looked at the clock on the bedside table and groaned. "It's so early! Why did you wake me up so early! Arg! You're so infuriating sometimes, I was having a lovely dream."

"Oh dear, Fred did you hear that? She's mad at us! NO!" George burst into pathetic, fake sobs and Fred joined him moments later. Anastasia rolled her eyes and chuckled, shaking her head. At hearing this, the twins sobbed even louder.

"Okay, okay, I'm not mad. Merlin! You two _are_ insufferable sometimes, do you know that?" The twins immediately looked up and hugged her, one from each side. They kissed her cheeks simultaneously, causing her to laugh.

"Don't be upset with us and our insufferable tendencies, love," Fred replied with a cheeky grin.

"We're going back to The Burrow today! We wanted to leave early and that's why we woke you up at 6:30 in the morning," George finished. At remembering this, Anastasia's eyes lit up. While her face rarely revealed her emotions, her eyes matched them perfectly, if you could read them that is.

"That's interesting," she answered with a smirk. But Fred and George knew that she was tremendously excited. Anastasia's parents were no longer living, so she lived with her aunt during the summer. Unfortunately, the aunt she lived with wasn't a desirable guardian, to say the absolute least. Aunt Rebecca and her husband, Uncle Rob. They hadn't had any children and, therefore, didn't know how to raise them. Anastasia would have much rather been in the care of her godparents; Molly and Arthur Weasley. But she didn't have a choice, so she sucked it up and drove on, so to speak.

Anastasia's older brother, Mike, had been best friends with Charlie since they when they were three. Her parents had then developed a strong friendship with Molly and Arthur. When Anastasia was born, they had been named her godparents, just as her parents had been named the godparents of the twins. Ironically, Anastasia and the twins shared a birthday.

Mike was the only other person that really knew her, besides the twins. He would know her a lot better too, if he weren't off with Charlie in Egypt. But she would still melt her heart for him, regardless of how little she had seen him lately. He would always be her protector, her big brother. She trusted him just as much as she trusted the twins, which was definitely saying something.

"So get your lazy ass out of bed and get dressed. We can leave as soon as we're ready." George poked her in the ribs, causing her to giggle and squirm.

"Yeah, it's not like Rebecca really wants us here," Anastasia replied.

"Indeed," George said, with a slight shake of his head.

"Indubitably!" Fred cried, smiling brightly. He leaped off the bed, dragging Anastasia with him. She, in turn, grabbed George's hand. Then, Fred grabbed her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder, causing her to giggle incessantly. With George close behind, they made their way around the house; Fred and George were singing some strange song about ribbons at the top of their lungs, Anastasia was giggling, Rob was trying to stifle is own laughter, and Rebecca was screaming at them to stop running around and to put "Katie" down. She refused to call her 'Anastasia' and it annoyed Anastasia to no end.

Half an hour later, Anastasia entered the room, which she shared with the twins, freshly showered and wrapped in a towel. She was drying her hair with another towel as she walked to the closet in search of her jeans. She started to absentmindedly hum the song about ribbons that the twins had been singing earlier. She chuckled as she heard her aunt scream some obscenities. There could only be one reason; the twins.

In all honesty, Rebecca didn't really want the Weasley twins in her house ... ever. They played pranks on her from time to time, but that wasn't really what annoyed her. When she was asked to take care of Anastasia, she had been expecting a quiet, introverted young girl that wouldn't be much work to take care of. But when the twins were around and they weren't at school, Anastasia was just as carefree and immature as they were. Or at least, that's how Rebecca saw it. But it didn't matter, because if she didn't allow the Weasley twins to spend half the summer at her house, then Anastasia would pitch a huge fit. And Anastasia angry was the last thing that Rebecca, or anyone else for that matter, wanted to deal with.

Fred and George strode into the room, looking half-sheepish, half-smug. Anastasia cocked an eyebrow. "What did you do to her now?" she asked, only slightly amused. Their pranks on random people didn't usually amuse her all that much. But when it came to people like her aunt, Professor Snape, etc, she thought they were bloody hilarious.

"Her hair is now …" Fred started.

"Purple!" George cried joyfully. The three of them burst out laughing; besides the basic prank, Rebecca hated the color purple.

"Oh gods, you two are too much," Anastasia said breathlessly as she regained some of her composure. They grinned cheekily at her, between laughs. Gods they loved it when they made her laugh; it was all bubbly and contagious and they got a glimpse of the old Katie. Don't get me wrong, they loved Anastasia … but they knew the reasons for the change and they couldn't help but wish those things hadn't happened. They wanted to see her truly happy with her life again, and right now, frankly, she wasn't even close.

"Do you think we should change it back before we leave?" Fred asked pensively, making Anastasia giggle.

"As much as it pains me to say it, you're going to have to. She won't let us leave until you do. So what if you two go back down, change her hair back and apologize, while I put some clothes on? Then we can go home, yeah?" The twins nodded emphatically and bounded out of the room a moment later, closing it behind them. Granted, some girls would be embarrassed to be dressed in only a towel in front of any boy that wasn't family. But then again, the twins were practically family anyway. Considering the fact that they'd had their first play date at 18 months old and had shared countless baths as children, it wasn't really an issue between the three.

Anastasia smiled as she found her favorite pair of jeans and threw them on the bed. A few minutes later, she was exiting the room dressed in said jeans and a black tank top. She pulled her hair into a messy bun as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She stopped to take in the scene before her; Fred and George were standing in the middle of the living room, talking to Rebecca. Unfortunately, her hair was back to its normal color, and she was scolding them, surprise, surprise. Rob was sitting in a chair by the fireplace reading the paper and Charlie was stepping out of the fireplace, having just floo'ed.

"If it isn't little Miss Anastasia! Haven't seen you in a while," Charlie said with a smile as Anastasia entered the room.

"Hello Charlie," she said with a smile. Okay, so it was more of a little tug at the corners of her mouth, but she was the Ice Queen after all, so what do you expect? Charlie was fairly well off in Anastasia's books; besides being a child of Arthur and Molly Weasley (whom she considered to be some of the best people ever to grace the planet), he was the best friend of her brother. Both facts gained him major points, and then of course there was the obvious fact that he treated her like his own sister.

"How's your summer been so far? I trust the twins haven't been giving you too much grief, yeah?" Charlie asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah right, like she'd take any shit from them. She doesn't even take my shit, what makes you think she'd take theirs?" a familiar voice said. Mike grinned as he stepped out of the fireplace, brushing the soot off of his clothes. At seeing him, Anastasia really did smile, a rare occasion indeed.

"And why should I take your shit?" she asked sarcastically.

"You mean besides the fact that I'm your favorite brother?"

"Well I didn't have much to chose from, now did I?" Anastasia cocked an eyebrow as her mouth twisted itself into a smirk.

Mike laughed and growled at her, mockingly. "Get over here, you." She laughed as she strode over to him, where he engulfed her in a huge hug, lifting her slightly off the ground. "Gods, you're getting tall," he said as he set her back down and looked at her. "Ready to go home, yeah?" Anastasia nodded, the traces of her smile still lingering on her face.

They had never referred to Rebecca's house as home … it wasn't and it never would be. But The Burrow on the other hand … The Burrow was home in every single aspect of the word. So they really were 'going home' today.

Rebecca was only too happy to have the twins out of her house. She had gotten considerably nervous when Mike and Charlie showed up; she knew Mike didn't approve of her guardianship of Anastasia and frankly, she was quite frightened of him. He was a great deal taller than her at 6 feet to her measly 5' 1" and, generally, a pretty scary looking guy. He had shaggy black hair and usually a partial beard; furthermore, his eyes were dark brown, almost black, and looked menacing a good majority of the time, whether he meant for them to or not. But, if you got to know him, you'd find out that he was just a big softie; he had the heart of a five-year-old child; loving, innocent, and trusting.

"You know, I'm insulted Fred."

"As am I, George."

"I mean, we do all kinds of things for him,"

"But he can't even say hello."

"Insulted indeed, Fred."

"Yes, indubitably, George." Everyone rounded on the twins, who were grinning cheekily at Mike. Mike chuckled and shook his head.

"How could I forget? My good gentlemen how are you on this fine morning?" Mike took an invisible hat off his head and bowed low, only to have the twins return the gesture.

"Infinitely better than the last time we spoke, I assure you, good sir," Fred answered with a smirk. Then, the three boys burst out laughing while Anastasia and Charlie snickered quietly. It was strange the way this little 'family' (of sorts) worked. Charlie was a definite foil for Mike; Charlie was quiet, critical, and reserved, while Mike was loud, credulous, and outgoing. Similarly, the twins were excellent foils for Anastasia; she was subtle and cold, whereas they were obvious and passionate. And those simple facts balanced everything out. Anastasia found empathy in Charlie, who was so much like her, but nothing could replace the solace that she found in the twins or Mike.

Anastasia smiled internally, a true smile; she would be spending the rest of the summer with Fred, George, Charlie, and Mike. She couldn't ask for much more. It promised to be a very … enjoyable few weeks, indeed.

An hour later, the five of them were collapsing in the living room of The Burrow. Mike and Charlie were sprawled out in the armchairs that flanked the fireplace, the twins were on opposite sides of the couch, and Anastasia was sitting in between them. She yawned and lay down, stretching out with her head on Fred's lap and her feet on George. She really shouldn't be tired, but considering that they had stayed up until 3 o'clock talking and then had gotten up 3 ½ hours later, it was understandable. Moreover, she was mentally exhausted from having to deal with her aunt before they left. Rebecca didn't want them in her house, but she'd rather have them there than at The Burrow. For whatever reason, (probably jealousy, as Molly had Anastasia's affection and love and Rebecca did not) she always made it difficult for them to leave. As in, she spent nearly half an hour lecturing Anastasia about schoolwork, boys, and keeping out of trouble. The majority of said lecture was completely pointless, as the things Rebecca was warning her about doing were totally against her nature.

"No one's home right now; Mum's running errands, Dad's at work, Percy's not coming home for the summer, Bill's out shopping with Ginny, and Ron's meeting Harry and Hermione in Diagon Alley. Harry's staying with us this summer, by the way," Charlie, informed them.

"You know, Granger really is a bloody git. I mean, is she going to let Ron walk all over her forever or what?"

"Well, love, not everyone can be as cold to men as you are. She thinks she's in love with him, so there's nothing anyone's going to do that will change her mind," Mike answered sagely.

"It disgusts me, I tell you." Seeing a hardened expression starting to creep up on Anastasia's face, George reached up and tugged lightly on a strand of her dark hair. She looked up at him and couldn't help but smile slightly, noticing his goofy grin. And, as if the subject of Hermione hadn't even come up, they started talking about quidditch. That was what Anastasia loved about the twins; they could change her mood in the blink of an eye with little more than a glance.

About ten minutes into the conversation, a new, but familiar voice added itself. "Ah, but you're wrong, Anastasia dear, the Cannons just got a new _chaser_ and replaced _both_ their beaters. Not a new keeper and 1 new beater." The five people looked up to see Arthur standing in the doorway of the living room, smiling. Anastasia was on her feet and hugging him a moment later. "I'm glad to have you home again," he whispered. She smiled as she pulled away, a true genuine smile. Well, today had certainly been interesting; she had smiled more in half the day than she had in the past 1 ½ months combined. If you don't count laughing at all of the twins' crazy antics, that is.

"I'm glad to be home, Arthur." The four men then jumped out of their seats and rushed over to great Arthur, none of them having seen him in a while. Charlie and Mike had only gotten back from Egypt late last night; they'd returned home after everyone was in bed and hadn't woken up until after Arthur was gone. The twins, of course, had been staying with Anastasia at Rebecca's house since the beginning of the summer.

Several hours later, Anastasia found herself sprawled out in the grass, looking up at the stars with two of her favorite people on either side of her. "Hey!" she cried indignantly as Fred threw a dandelion at her, hitting her on the side of the head. She picked it up and threw it at George, who was on the other side of her. It landed on his chest and he picked it up; he looked at it for a moment before tossing it aside absentmindedly. "Something on your mind, Georgey?"

George chuckled softly; just like only he and Fred were allowed to call her 'Ana', only she and Fred were allowed to call him 'Georgey'. And, similarly, only she and George were allowed to call Fred 'Freddie' (although, Fred wasn't as pleased with his nickname as the other two were). "I dunno … this is all very surreal, you know? I mean, we were in this exact position 2 years ago, the summer before fourth year. But everything was so different then." Fred nodded in agreement and neither twin thought anything of Anastasia's agreement or disagreement with George's statement until they heard her sniffle softly.

They both sat up and looked at her quickly, only to find that she had curled herself into a fetal position and there were several tears snaking their way down her pale cheeks. As Fred remembered what day it was, he smacked himself on the forehead. A look of realization came over George's face moments later, as he too remembered the date. Within seconds, they had engulfed her in a huge hug, one twin on each side. She gingerly laid her head on George while leaning back into Fred's chest. Her body was shaking with silent sobs and tears were now coursing freely down her cheeks. George couldn't help the guilty twinge that crept into his heart; he'd not only been so idiotic to forget, he'd only brought whatever things she was surely feeling closer to the surface with his reference to the summer 2 years ago.

They knew the summer would be hard for her; she could always manage to keep her feelings masked at Rebecca's house, but back at The Burrow was a different story. More importantly, today was the anniversary. The anniversary of the day her life truly fell apart. The anniversary of the day her parents died. She would have been able to deal with everything else, had her parents still been there. Perhaps, if they hadn't died, the change from kind and happy to cruel and icy never would have happened. But nonetheless, they had died. So, in this moment, Anastasia could do nothing but cry as the cruel realities came back to her.

And the twins could do nothing but hold her.

An hour or so later, as Anastasia's sobs faded into soft hiccups and sniffles, the twins stood up and brushed themselves off. George bent down and scooped her up in his arms, carrying her up to the bedroom he shared with Fred. For yet another night, Anastasia spent a night with the twins. She slept fitfully, crying herself back to sleep every time she woke up from a dream about her parents. And the twins slept … not at all. Besides the fact that they were much to worried about Anastasia to actually sleep, every time they started to drift off, she would wake up in hysterics and they would end up trying to soothe her once again. After everything that had happened, it was all Anastasia could do to thank every deity she could name for giving sending her Fred and George Weasley.

Fred and George Weasley … her guardian angels.

A/N: Well I hope you all liked this chapter. We realize how angsty it was, but it was also kind of fluffy, don't you think? The next chapter is in the works, but busy busy schedules may delay it. If you'd like to receive email from us when we update, please leave your email address in a review. We hope you all liked this chapter, please review! Pia's going to respond to the reviews:

**SpiritWell**: I'm so glad you liked it! LOL I'm sure I can speak for Q when I say that we are both utterly _flattered_! Thanks so much! I hope you liked this chapter as much as you liked the prologue!

**Marie Dantes**: LOL, well we're hoping to stay away from Sue tendencies as well. Despite the fact that Katie is going to be somewhat OOC from how she appears in the books, we're going to try and keep her in the "Anastasia" character as much as is humanly possible. Thanks so much!

**Painted Secrets**: Hello dear! Thanks again for beta'ing this. LOL, yes I suppose it could have been Hermione … ponders the thought for a moment Anywho, thanks again, the next chapter is in the works!

**Devil's Poodle**: LOL, well I'm glad that you liked it. I'm rather surprised at our skills with dramatic irony. Several people have said that they thought it was Hermione. Thanks a bunch, hope you liked this one!

**Disclaimer:** We own nothing!


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